Cheater Cheater Chicken and Dumplings

Now before any of you start yelling at me... I will fully admit that my posts run the entire gamut of "made from scratch," and "right from the garden," all the way to "cheater cheater" recipes that take liberal advantage of convenience foods that you can pick up quickly on your way home from work.  On one former post that ended up on Pinterest, someone wrote in horror at the use of canned biscuits and store bought meatballs.  Well you know what?  There are times when you have TIME, and other times when you have NO time but still want to cook for your family.  There are also times when a novice cook wants home-cooked comfort, but is intimidated by certain techniques.  For those times, there is absolutely nothing wrong with incorporating convenience items!  Believe me, the kids will still much prefer that to picking up take out.  

Well this is one of those cheater cheater recipes.  We had four baseball games scheduled yesterday evening, then a wave of torrential rain moved in.  Dinner wasn't exactly "planned" if you know what I mean.  And over here, dark rainy evenings demand comfort food.  .... plus my three year old asked for "chicken and dunklings," so here we are.  Nope, this may not be Grandma's "cook ALL day," made from scratch chicken and dumplings, but who cares?  They are easy, good, and the kids love them!  They also required very little kitchen skills, so you may recommend them to someone just getting into the kitchen.

Click here for Printable Recipe
Ingredients:

• a rotisserie chicken. Almost every grocery store has them hot nowadays... just waiting for you
• a box of low-sodium chicken broth
• 2/3 - 1 cup evaporated milk in the can
• 3 Tbsp butter
• a can of biscuits - doesn't matter what kind
• salt, pepper, poultry seasoning
• flour 
• a few sprigs of thyme for garnish (optional)

Step-by-step

When you get home, strip the meat from the carcass of the chicken.  Seriously, aren't rotisserie chickens one of the best things around?  They are hot, juicy, well seasoned, already cooked, and actually less expensive than buying a whole raw chicken!

The meat from one rotisserie chicken.

Cover the meat in a bowl, and throw the carcass into a pot covered with the chicken broth and water to cover the chicken.  Season the water with salt, pepper, and a little poultry seasoning.  Get that on first and let your broth "build" flavor while you go about your afternoon business - putting up groceries, checking homework, getting hugs and kisses, etc.  

chicken bones and skin, plus chicken broth and water.

I let it boil for about an hour and a half to extract the flavor out of the bones, skin, etc.  Using the parts that you would have thrown away (skin, bones) to make the broth really stretches the buck out of that $5/6 dollar chicken!!  If you want, you can add a few sprigs of fresh thyme.  Just throw them in whole.  The little tender leaves will separate from the stems, which you can fish out later.  (You could also do this part ahead of time and have the broth ready in the fridge when you get home.)

For the dumplings (dunklings), liberally sprinkle your work surface with all purpose flour.  Arrange the biscuits on the flour.  Sprinkle the biscuits with a mixture of salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.  It may seem odd to you  that I season the dough, but this ensures that I have seasoning at every level of the dish.

a can of refrigerator biscuits. 

salt, pepper, poultry seasoning

Season each biscuit.  The seasoning will be pressed into them when you roll them out.

Sprinkle a bit more flour so your rolling pin won't stick.

Roll them dumplings out very thin (larger than my hand) and make easy work of cutting them by rolling over them with a pizza wheel.  I often let Canon and Lily help me roll out and cut the dumplings.  Don't worry if they aren't all the same.  Again - who cares?  You are spending time together and they are learning skills and having fun.  Period.  Keep it all in perspective.  Gather up the dumpling pieces with the flour and set them to rest in a plate.  The more flour you pick up with them, the thicker your final broth, so adjust according to the preferences of your family/guests.

About this size.  Geez... that's vague, huh?

Make it fun.  Run a pizza cutter through them.  Let the kids do it.  This isn't the Food Network.  Anne Burrell isn't going to fuss at you if your knife cuts are not all the same.   (No offense, Anne.  Love ya!)

I like them rolled out VERY thin.  You can see the seasoning in them.

Let them rest while you fish out all the "stuff" from your broth.  I could have probably used a little bit more flour than I have here for a little thicker broth.

(You could also make these dumplings ahead of time and put them in the fridge.)

After the broth has "developed," remove all pieces and parts of the carcass with a spider or by using a strainer.  Bring the broth to a boil and add the dumplings.

See how nice and rich our broth has gotten from all those "left over" chicken parts?

At first, they will puff up and get super fluffy.  Don't worry.  They won't stay that way.

Add the butter and evaporated milk and give them a good few stirs.  Let them cook on about a medium to medium high boil for about 15 minutes.  The dumplings will thin out and drop down, and the broth will thicken.  It's like magic.

3 Tbsp butter

2/3 cup evaporated milk.  You could use regular milk or even cream if you want.  It's your dish.

Give it a good stir and walk away for a while.

It seems they have disappeared.  I told you they would drop down.

Now, you can turn off the heat (or turn to low heat) and add in the cooked, rotisserie chicken.  I am enlisting a helper for this.

Adding the chicken is a good activity for Lily... but one piece at a time was gonna take a while!

By the spoon full worked better.  LOL

Yummm... is it starting to look more familiar now?

At this point, we have done very little real "work" and have thick creamy broth and tender dumplings.  Adding the chicken back at the end ensures that it won't be overcooked and dry.. and also that it won't break up into sheds (we prefer nice healthy hunks of chicken).  

Serve to some people you love.. and stay dry and cozy.  Enjoy family time.  

Don't let anybody make you feel bad about taking short cuts in the kitchen.  If it works for you, do it.  I actually began making the dumplings this way on a ski trip years ago... You know the kind - where you have a very limited pantry and some of those mountain town grocery stores are iffy.  I was so pleased with the result and the EASE that I continued to make them this way.

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Looking for more comforting soup recipes like this?
Please visit my Recipe Index for lots of ideas to cook with/for your family.  Almost all of my recipes have step-by-step photos, and things that your kids can help you with for good old "together" time.  

Here are a few recipes to get your wheels turning:

Cajun Corn Chowder

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

French Onion Soup

Taco Soup

Written Directions:

Strip the meat from the carcass of the rotisserie chicken.  Cover the meat in a bowl, and throw the carcass into a pot covered with the chicken broth and water to cover the chicken.  Season the water with salt, pepper, and a little poultry seasoning.  Boil for about an hour and a half to extract the flavor out of the bones, skin, etc.  If you want, you can add a few sprigs of fresh thyme.  Just throw them in whole.  The little tender leaves will separate from the stems, which you can fish out later.  (You could also do this part ahead of time and have the broth ready in the fridge when you get home.)

For the dumplings, liberally sprinkle your work surface with all purpose flour.  Arrange the biscuits on the flour.  Sprinkle the biscuits with a mixture of salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.  Roll them dumplings out very thin (larger than my hand) and make easy work of cutting them by rolling over them with a pizza wheel.  Gather up the dumpling pieces with the flour and set them to rest in a plate.  The more flour you pick up with them, the thicker your final broth, so adjust according to the preferences of your family/guests. (You could also make these dumplings ahead of time and put them in the fridge.)

After the broth has "developed," remove all pieces and parts of the carcass with a spider or by using a strainer.  Bring the broth to a boil and add the dumplings. At first, they will puff up and get super fluffy.  Don't worry.  They won't stay that way.  Add the butter and evaporated milk and give them a good few stirs.  Let them cook on about a medium to medium high boil for about 15 minutes.  The dumplings will thin out and drop down, and the broth will thicken.  It's like magic.

Now, you can turn off the heat (or turn to low heat) and add in the cooked, rotisserie chicken. At this point, we have done very little real "work" and have thick creamy broth and tender dumplings.  Adding the chicken back at the end ensures that it won't be overcooked and dry.. and also that it won't break up into sheds (we prefer nice healthy hunks of chicken).

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Ginger Orange Pork Tenderloin

Wow.... It's been such a busy Spring already.... such little time to play around in the kitchen!  Between baseball and gymnastics schedules, work, family, house, and a new family situation, I feel like I've been gone for a really long time.

This pork is so flavorful, yet easy to make.  The ginger and the citrus are welcome playmates to the pork and are sparkly on the palate.  I added some Buttered Pecan Sweet Potatoes (see recipe and post on Dec 21, 2011) and a bag of steamed Asian vegetables on the side.

Click here for Printable Recipe 
Ingredients:
marinade....

• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 Tbsp orange zest
• 2 Tbsp honey
• can accommodate from 1 to 3 pork tenderloins, trimmed

glaze...

• 1 cup apricot preserves (or orange marmelade or even apple jelly)
• 2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper

Step-by-step

Marinade
Mix everything and allow the pork (trimmed of silver skin and external fat) to marinate for at least one hour.  You could certainly do this in the morning and let the pork marinate in the fridge for up to 8 hours and cook it in the evening.  If you are only doing it for an hour, I recommend letting the meat sit out during this time to come to room temperature while marinating.  Allowing the meat to come to ambient temperature will give you more even cooking, rather than trying to sear/cook meat on a hot grill that is cold on the inside.

1 cup OJ

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

The easiest way to peel ginger is with the edge of a spoon!

Use a grated with larger "teeth"

1 Tbsp grated ginger

Use a microplane to get the zest of the orange.  DO NOT get ANY of the pith (the white stuff) as it is very bitter.  You ONLY want the bright orange outer layer.. where all of the oils are.

2 Tbsp orange zest

2 Tbsp honey. 
Tip - if people in your family suffer from allergies (pollen, etc), buy LOCAL honey.... honey made around your area.  The bees will have pollenated local plants, thus producing a honey that has somewhat of an immune boost for you!

Whisk the marinate together.

Make sure you trim the pork of all fat.  (My kids won't eat it if they see fat on it)

My favorite way to marinate meat is to throw the meat and marinade in a ziptop bag.  After removing the excess air, the marinade will surround and bathe the meat so that you don't have to fuss with it as much - turning it, etc.

Glaze
Add all the ingredients together in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until a syrupy consistency has been reached.

1 cup preserves.  You can use apricot preserves, apple jelly, or orange marmelade.  Whichever you have on hand.

2 Tbsp freshly grated ginger.  We want to mirror the flavors from the marinade into our glaze.

2 Tbsp soy sauce.

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until it reaches a beautiful, syrupy consistency.  Then just turn it off.  Use about a third of this glaze (in a SEPARATE dish please) to baste the meat as it cooks.  Do not serve the glaze you use for basting to your family after you've been putting it on the raw'ish meat with the basting brush.  If you forget, you need to at least bring it back to a boil for a couple of minutes before serving it.

After removing the pork from the marinade, sear on a hot grill.  Do not baste until you have seared that particular side.

Sear!

After turning the pork over, you can now baste the side that has ALREADY been seared.  Ideally, you want to turn the meat until each side is seared and has lovely grill marks.

Baste about every 3 - 5 minutes until the pork reaches an internal temperature of about 145 degrees. Again, don't serve your family THIS glaze after putting it on the meat.  Use the one from the stove!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do NOT cut it right away when it comes off the grill.  All the juices will run out!!! Please let it "rest" for about 10 minutes covered in foil if you like to allow the juices to redistribute.  If you cut it too soon and the juices run out, you will end up with DRY meat!  We want JUICY meat!

Cut the meat on a bit of a bias in about 1/2 " slices.



Arrange the slices on a platter and drizzle with the glaze.  Serve with orange slices (to mirror the flavors of the marinade) and extra glaze on each person's plate.  Those are red pepper flakes on the oranges.  A little razzle dazzle for the taste buds!

If you don't have a grill, or there's inclimate weather, etc., you could easily do this pork in the oven.  After searing the pork in a pan on all sides first in a little oil, I would set the oven on about 400 F, insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest end, and cook in the oven until 145 degrees.  Remember, the heat will continue to rise (to about 150 F) when you take it out and allow it to rest.  Baste the meat about every 5 minutes. Instant read thermometers take all the guesswork out of cooking meat and allow your focus to shift to the other things going on.  So worth getting one!

Looking for more great pork recipes?  Visit my Recipe Index for lots of ideas to cook with/for your family.  And here are a few great pork recipes:

• Blackberry Jalapeno Glazed Pork Tenderloin

• Center Cut Pork Loin Chops with a Cherry Cabernet Glaze

• Pork Loin Chops with Peach Ginger Chutney

• Spinach and Apricot Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Written Method - 

Marinade
Mix everything and allow the pork (trimmed of silver skin and external fat) to marinate for at least one hour.  You could certainly do this in the morning and let the pork marinate in the fridge for up to 8 hours and cook it in the evening.  If you are only doing it for an hour, I recommend letting the meat sit out during this time to come to room temperature while marinating.  Allowing the meat to come to ambient temperature will give you more even cooking, rather than trying to sear/cook meat on a hot grill that is cold on the inside.

Glaze
Add all the ingredients together in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until a syrupy consistency has been reached.  After removing the pork from the marinade, sear on a hot grill.  Do not baste until you have seared that particular side.  If you don't have a grill, or there's inclimate weather, etc., you could easily do this pork in the oven.  After searing the pork in a pan on all sides first in a little oil, I would set the oven on about 400 F, insert an instant read thermometer into the thickest end, and cook in the oven until 145 degrees.  Remember, the heat will continue to rise (to about 150 F) when you take it out and allow it to rest.  Baste the meat about every 5 minutes. Instant read thermometers take all the guesswork out of cooking meat and allow your focus to shift to the other things going on.  So worth getting one!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad